Resident Fellow  Scott Gottlieb, M.D.

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Animal biotechnology, executed judiciously, will provide compelling and practical benefits to mankind, as we have seen from other fundamental advances in life science. Genetic engineering is the deliberate modification of the animal's genome using techniques of modern biotechnology. Genetically engineered agricultural animals are being developed to transform and improve public health. These public health benefits can be grouped into five broad areas of scientific development.

1. Genetically engineered animals will improve human health through production of novel replacement proteins, drugs, vaccines and tissues for the treatment and prevention of human disease.

2. Animals that are genetically engineered will have improved food production traits enabling them to help meet the global demand for more efficient, higher quality and lower-cost sources of food.

3. Genetically engineered animals will contribute to improving the environment and human health with the consumption of fewer resources and the production of less waste.

4. Genetic engineering offers tremendous benefit to the animal by enhancing health, well-being and animal welfare.

5. Finally, genetically engineered animals have produced high-value industrial products such as spider silk used for medical and defense purposes.

Today, there are more than two dozen drugs in development derived through genetic engineering of farm animals, and numerous agricultural animal applications with beneficial environmental and husbandry attributes suitable for commercialization. But so far, the practical benefits of this technology have not reached American patients and consumers, owing to regulatory and political obstacles rather than scientific limitations. The public health benefits can only be realized when we create the regulatory framework for governing how these animals can provide human health, environmental and food and agricultural benefits. Establishing a predictable, rigorous, science-based regulatory pathway is essential if this technology is going to be allowed to deliver practical benefits in the areas that the science of genetic engineering of agricultural animals is now enabling. . . .

Scott Gottlieb, M.D., is a resident fellow at AEI. Matthew B. Wheeler is a professor and distinguished university scholar at the University of Illinois.

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